Rain-water conduit



(No Modh) W. VAN BENTHUYSEN.

' RAINWATER GONDUIT.

No. 549,835. Patented NOV. 12, 1895.

IHII

k/llmv g ATTORNEYS:

ANDREW B GRAHAM. FHDYO-UTNO.WASHINGTON.D C

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER VAN BENTHUYSEN, OF NEWV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

RA lN-WATER CONDUIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,835, dated November 12, 1895.

Application filed May 21, 1895.

To all whom it may con cerm Be it known that I, WVALTEE VAN BEN- THU YSEN, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Rain-Water Conductor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in rain-water conductors; and it has for its object to provide a device of that description which will be automatic in its action and which will also conduct the first wash of wa ter from the roof into a vessel other than the tank or cistern, and whereby when the first installment of water from the roof has been disposed of the conductor will assume such a position as to deliver the remaining portion of the rain fall to the cistern or tank, thereby preserving the water therein free from impurities, which ordinarily collect on the roof of a dwelling.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation and partial sectional view of the improved device, and Fig. 2 is a similar view of the device in a slightly-modified form.

In carrying out the invention the rainspout 10 from the eaves-trough 11 is adapted to be received by one end of a gutter 12, the said gutter being pivoted in suitable earsor bearings 13, formed upon the upper end of a receptacle A, which receptacle may be and preferably is in the nature of apipe,its upper end being funnel-shaped or flaring. The dimensions of the receptacle or pipe are such as to receive and hold for a predetermined time the first installment of water that runs from the roof. The gutter 12 is so placed that when in one position it will engage with the exit end of the rain-spout 10, and also with a second gutter 14, secured upon the tank or cistern B, adapted to receive the drinking-water. The stationary gutter 14 may be placed anywhere upon the cistern. Usually, however, it is located on the top, having a decided Serial No. 550,086. (No model.)

downward slant, and the pivoted gutter will rest upon the upper surface of the stationary gutter when engaging with the under surface of the rain-spout.

The receptacle A may be in the nature of a pipe, as shown in Fig. 2, of even diameter below its funnel portion, or it may be made in two diameters, as shown in Fig. 1, and the pivoted gutter 12 may be normally held with one end within the funnel end of the receptacle A by means of a float 15, as shown in Fig. 2, connected with one end of the pivoted gutter by means of a link 16 or its equivalent. The receptacle A in any event is provided with a petcock 17, or its equivalent, at or near the bottom, or it may have instead a small outlet-aperture at that point; or, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the pivoted or movable gutter 12 may have a chain or cable 18 attached to it between its pivot-point and the end adapted to rest upon the stationary gutter, whereas the link 16- is secured to the gutter 12 at that end which is adapted for contact with the rain-spout. The chain or cable 18 is made to pass downward through a guide 19, located on the receptacle A, and carries a bucket 20, in which a short spout 21 enters, connected with the interior of the receptacle. The bucket is formed with a small outlet-orifice, from which water may slowly flow, producing a hereinafter-described effect.

In both forms of the device the pivoted gutter normally extends at one end within the receptacle A, and when the rain first com mences to fall sufficiently to carry with it the impurities on the roof the water is received from the rain-spout by the said pivoted gutter and conducted into the receptacle A.

Under the form of the device shown in Fig. 2, when sufficient water has accumulated in the receptacle A the float will be raised to such an extent as to carry the movable or pivoted gutter in engagement with the stationary gutter and the rain-spout, as shown in dotted lines, and the pure water will then pass directly from the eaves-trough into the cistern.

The pivoted gutter is provided with a small opening 12 at that end which is over the receptacle A, so that during the continuance of the rain sufficient water will enter the recep tacle A to maintain the float in the upper po- IOL sition, as the petcock is opened to a greater or less extent to permit the escape of the water in the receptacle A, so as to prepare for another rain in an automatic way, it being understood that the float will draw the movable gutter to its normal position when the rain shall have stopped.

Under the construction shown in Fig. 1 the water in the receptacle A, when said receptacle has received a sufficient amount of the first water, will overflow into the bucket 20, and the weight of the water in the bucket will in this event draw the pivoted spout downward to an engagement with the fixed gutter and the rain-spout, whereupon the water will be delivered to the cistern in the manner heretofore set forth. The water continuously dripping through the opening 12 in the gutter 12 will keep the receptacle A full to the point of the spout 21, and from this point water will slowly flow to replace that escaping from the bucket 20 by way of the orifice therein. Thus the bucket QOis kept constantly filled and the gutter 12 held in place.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The combination, with a spout, a tank or cistern, a fixed gutter carried by the tank or cistern and aligned with the discharge end of the spout, a receptacle directly below the discharge end of the spout, a pivoted gutter carried by the edge of the receptacle and having its pivot between the spout and the fixed gutter, and means for controlling the pivoted gutter, the same being actuatedby the water in the receptacle, substantiall as described.

\VALTER VAN BENTHUYSEN.

\Yitn esses:

E. W. PETERSON, W. \V. CRAWFORD. 

